Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-10-11

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The chart below shows the results of a survey about people’s coffee and tea buying and drinking habits in five Australian cities.

Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

Student answer (Band 6.5)

The bar chart illustrates information regarding a survey about people's coffee and tea consuming and purchasing habits across five cities of Australia.

Overall, the cities of Melbourne, Hobart and Sydney show the highest visits to a cafe for tea or coffee, and Brisbane and Adelaide have the highest fresh coffee purchases in the last 4 weeks.

Across the 5 cities, a huge trend was seen regarding drinking coffee or tea at a cafe. The highest numbers were seen in Sydney (61%), Melbourne (63%) and Hobart (63%). Brisbane lead at second place with 55% and Adelaide showed the lowest at 49%.

In terms of buying instant coffee, it wasn't as popular as cafes but still showed relatively high numbers. The highest were Hobart and Brisbane at around 53%. While other cities like Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide were between 45% to 50%.

Buying fresh coffee was the lowest for all cities. The highest in this category was Melbourne and Sydney between 40% to 45%. Hobart was at 38% and Brisbane and Adelaide both at 34%.

In conclusion, Sydney recorded an average overall high in all categories and even though Melbourne and Hobart had the highest percentages in some categories.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You identify the main categories and provide a clear overview of café visits, correctly noting that Melbourne, Hobart and Sydney are highest and Adelaide is lowest. You also report several figures that broadly match the chart. However, the overview contains a significant misreading: Brisbane and Adelaide do not have the highest fresh-coffee purchases; Sydney and Melbourne do. The instant-coffee comparison is also imprecise: Hobart is highest at about 55%, followed by Brisbane at about 53%, rather than both being around 53%. The conclusion that Sydney is high “in all categories” is not supported, since it has the lowest instant-coffee figure. More accurate comparisons and a clearer overview of the contrasting category leaders would make the response more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a coherent overall arrangement: an introduction and overview are followed by separate paragraphs on café visits, instant coffee and fresh coffee. This makes the information easy to locate, and transitions such as “In terms of” and “In conclusion” help signal the stages of the report. Some connections are less effective, however. The overview’s claim about fresh coffee conflicts with the later paragraph, and the final sentence introduces a broad claim about Sydney without explaining how it follows from the figures. Phrases such as “Across the 5 cities” and “In terms of” are somewhat formulaic. To strengthen progression, make the overview consistent with the detailed comparisons and use the conclusion to synthesise the main pattern rather than add a new generalisation.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.5

You use an adequate range of task-related vocabulary, including “survey,” “purchases,” “category,” “percentages” and “highest.” The meaning is generally clear, and you vary some expressions for describing the data. There are, however, several imprecise or unnatural choices: “coffee and tea consuming and purchasing habits” is awkward, “huge trend” is not a suitable description of a chart pattern, and “highest numbers” is less precise than language referring to proportions or percentages. “Lead at second place” is also an inaccurate collocation. Aim for concise, conventional data-reporting language and distinguish clearly between a percentage, a number of people and a ranking. This would make the vocabulary more precise and natural without requiring unnecessarily complex wording.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.5

You use a mix of simple sentences and more complex forms, including the opening clause “even though Melbourne and Hobart had…” and the contrast introduced by “While.” Most sentences communicate the intended comparisons, and errors do not generally prevent understanding. Some grammatical control is inconsistent. For example, “Brisbane lead at second place” uses the wrong verb form, and “The highest numbers were seen…” is an incomplete or unclear construction because the reader must infer what was highest. The sentence beginning “While other cities…” is also a fragment when separated from the preceding sentence. Check verb tense and form, and ensure subordinate clauses are attached to a complete main clause. More consistently complete sentences would improve accuracy and range.

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